John Terry looks set to miss England’s warm-up friendly with Slovenia on Saturday - to ensure he is fit to face Croatia next week.

Chelsea and England skipper Terry was forced to duck out of yesterday’s training session after suffering a flare-up of his on-going back complaint.

While England insiders insisted it was merely a precautionary move, Terry is not expected to train on Thursday, just 48 hours before the Wembley clash.

With Manchester United’s Wes Brown, who has been plagued by a thigh problem so far this season, also forced to miss yesterday’s session, Fabio Capello called in uncapped Bolton centre-half Gary Cahill as cover.

And with Capello reluctant to risk losing Terry for the potentially decisive clash with the Croats on Wednesday, the probability is that the armband will be passed to Steven Gerrard.

Capello rested Rio Ferdinand against Slovakia in March when he suffered a back injury, ensuring he was fit to take on Ukraine four days later and is likely to take the same stance on his captain.

When England faced Croatia at Wembley in what was to prove Steve McClaren’s final game as manager, he was without Terry, Ferdinand and Ashley Cole, while his gamble on Scott Carson in goal backfired horribly.

This time England can afford a slip-up with two more games to get the maximum three points they need to be sure of a berth in South Africa but with Ferdinand already ruled out of the qualifier, the Italian will not want to run the risk of being without both first-choice centre-halves.

It means Matthew Upson and Manchester City new recruit Joleon Lescott are likely to be the central defensive pair on Saturday, with Cahill poised for a first cap off the bench at some stage.

The Bolton man was drafted into the squad for the summer games with Kazakhstan and Andorra when Ferdinand sustained a calf injury, although he did not make the bench for either match.

Blackburn goalkeeper Paul Robinson was withdrawn part-way through the training session after suffering from a cricked neck, although he is due to return today.

But Robinson was never in serious contention for a starting shirt, with West Ham’s Robert Green, who has played the last three games, now looking likely to get the nod over Manchester United’s Ben Foster.